The mission of the Office of Mentoring & Service-Learning (OMSL) is to enhance student learning and achievement by offering active and experiential learning opportunities through the high impact practices of peer mentoring and service learning.

The OMSL seeks to increase student learning and development through programs which require students to enage on increasingly complex levels with academic content and with civic responsibility. In the process the OMSL wishes to promote promote teaching innovation and involvement in the usage of high impact practices - and promote increased civic partnerships between CCSF students, programs and departments and the San Francisco community.

Peer Mentoring

In the Peer mentoring program, faculty members sponsor projects and recruit student mentors who have been through a course or program and know the academic and institutional challenges that students will face. Mentors, with the direction of a faculty sponsor, offer academic and personal support to help students succeed. We currently have 29 peer-mentor projects located in 25 academic and career technical departments.

Service Learning

In the Service-Learning program, students participate in service to the community either through enrollment in credit courses offering service-learning as an option or requirement or through participation in a co-curricular service learning program on campus. Service-Learning integrates community service with academic instruction so that each strengthens the other, and provides time for reflection and critical thinking while making significant contributions to individuals, organizations, and neighborhoods. We currently offer and support 19 service learning programs.

Civic Engagement Initiative

In 2012 the OMSL launched its newest Service Learning program, the Civic Engagement Initiative (CEI) by piloting the CEI Training & Internship program. The OMSL initiated a new credit-based civic engagement course and placed 35 CCSF students from our most underserved communities in 15-hour per week structured civic engagement internships with community based organizations in San Francisco.

Project SHINE

Our largest service learning program, Project SHINE (Students Helping in the Naturalization of Elders) engages hundreds of students enrolled in political science, psychology, sociology, foreign languages and health science credit courses in assisting ESL faculty in non-credit English language classes and in preparing elders to take the citizenship exam.